Flexible-shaft-making machine



June 24, 1930. l.. H. MORIN FLEXIBLE SHAFT MAKING MACHINE 5 Sheecs-Sheet Filed July 29, 1927 N m A Q R R k R F..H www.. z. www EET ATTORNEY `lune 24, 1930, L. H. MoRlN FLEXIBLE SHAFT MAKING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1927 5 sheets-sheet 2.

ATTORNEY lunezl, 1930 l L. H1. MORIN 1,767,692

FLEBL SHAFT MAKING MACHINE Filed July 29. 1927 5. Sheets-Sheet 3 410 f 37 f f INVENTOR.

A TTRNEYl June 24, 1930. I 'L H MOR|N I 1,767,692.,

FLEXIBLE SHAFT MAKING MACHINE Filed July 29, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

MA1-,fm

ATTORNEYl June 24, 1930. L. H. MORIN FLEXIBLE SHAFT MAKING MACHIN 5 sheets-sheet Filed July 29, 1927 i. i 4 llifill l! ha, EEN" ...55.54. '.r//l//i INVENToR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented June 24, 1930 i PATENT OFFICE LOUIS H. MORIN, F NEW' YORK, N. Y.

FLEXIBLE-SHAFT-MAXING MACHINE plantation med July 2a,

This invention relates to machines for making flexible shafting Ysuch as is commonly used for transmitting torque to translating devices not in alignment or not rigidly secured together and is an improvement upon "w's'uch a machine as is disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 183,972 filed April 15, 1927.

Flexible shafting must necessarily be i0 tightly Wrapped in order to be resistive t0 torsion and yet must be supple and limber.- It has been, therefore, a diificult problem to make such a shaft. Heretofore it has been the general practice to manufacture such shafting by hand whereby a plurality of strands of wires are wound around asm le strand or core wire, the convolutions of t e winding and strands being close together and the alternate layers thereof wound in relatively reversed directions.

I propose to provide a machine which will` automatically simultaneously wrap several layers of wire around a central core wire, the successive layers being wound in relatively 95 reversed positions and the winding being accomplished while the core wire is constantly fed forward by a plurality of feedin units each of which grips the core wire an feeds it continuously and evenly, and which will flex t-he completely wound shaft as it leaves the last winding operation to make the shaft readily flexible and limber for immediate use. It is the particular purpose of this invention to provide a simple yet effective feeding means for continuously feeding a core wire relatively to the means for wrapping the layers of wires therearound and also to provide means for automatically flexing the completed flexible shaft as it leaves the last winding operation of the machine whereby it is made supple and ready for use.

To carry out these purposes I provide a Amachine composed enerally of a plurality of rotary winding eads which yapply the wrappingsl around the core wire and also a head whicli'is positioned at the output end of the machine and which ilexes the -completely wound shaft as it is fed out of the machine. As a means for continuously feed# ing the core 'wire I provide ladjacent each 1927. serial No. 209,205.

head a feeding unit each of which is composed of a plurality of ball chucks which alternately grip the core wire and the wound layers thereon with overlapping grips to continuously pull the core wire through the successive heads.

The machine will now be described in more particularity in connection with the drawings which illustrate an embodiment thereo` Y Fig'. 1 is a plan view of a machine constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevation partlyin section of the head end of the machine showing the core wire supportin spool, one rotary head, and its associated gr1ppers;

Fig. 4' is an enlarged section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal, vertical section of one of the rotary winding heads;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6 6 of Fig; 2;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical section through one of the feeding or gripper units;

Fig. 8 is a section on line 8-8 of Fiv. 7;

Fig.' 9 is an end elevation of one ofD the gripper units;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail of one of the 80 ball chucks and its actuatingI shaft;

Fig. 11 is an end elevation of the flexing unit or head;

Fig. 12 is a section on line 12-12 of Fig. 11.

The particular machine shown by way of illustration comprises a bed or frame 1 supported upon end and center le 2, the bed 1 constituting a; support for t e core wire feeding mechanism, the wrapping or winding mechanism and the flexing mechanism.

A spool 3.of the core wire 4 is supported upon an angle bracket 5 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) rigidly secured to the bed 1 adjacent the right or head end thereof. Bracket 5 is 05 threaded to receive a spindle 6 extending at rightv angles therefrom which spindle is threaded upon its outer end to receive a spool retaining flange 7 and a locking nut 8. Bracket 5 is formed with an extending ear 100 portion 9 which carries a friction device `.adapted to contact against one flange of the s ool 3 to resist rotation thereof, and is also ormed with a second projecting ear 1Q which carries a spring pressed guide and friction dra for guiding the core wire 4 as itl/s reele off the spool 3 into and through the'windin heads for winding a plurality of la ers o wire around the core wire. i

,A er leavin the guide 11 core wire 4 1s passed throug the center vof thefirst. of a series of successive turrets or windlng heads 12, and then through a flexing hea 13 rotatively carried by the bed 1 in spaced relationship and adapted to wind successive layers of convolutions of wire around the core wire, each of the four winding heads being constructed to carry and feed five strands of wire from five spools mounted thereon. The four winding heads utilized in the illustrated machine are substantially the same in structure and each successive head is driven in a direction relativel reversed to the direction of rotation o the preceding head from a common drive shaft. The fifth or flexing head 13 is substantially different from the receding heads all of which will later be escribed in detail.

As the core wire 4 leaves the first head 12 having hada layer of wire wound thereon it passes between and is engaged by the first of a series of gripping and feeding units 14, each supported upon a bracket 15 bolted or otherwise secured to the bed 1. A feeding unit is placed adjacent the output end of each of the windm heads and also adjacent the flexing hea whereby the core wirel is gripped and fed as it leaves yeach head. The gripper members are all substantially similar in structurelater to be described and aro actuated from a common shaft in such a manner and sequence that the core -wire is fed continuously and'evenly under a constant tension durin the time that the rotary heads are win ing layers of wire therearound.

Any convenient source of energy may be used to drive the machine and may be operatively connected to a shaft 16 (Figs. 1 and 2) supported by a bearing 17 bolted or otherwise secured tothe end legs. Shaft 16 carries a pulley 18 over which a belt 19 passes. Alsopassln over a pulley 2O freely mouvnted on drive s aft 21 and adapted to be connected thereto by an standard clutch mechanism 22. Drive sha 21 is rotatively supported. by outboard bearings 23 attached to the rear'face of bed 1 at frequent intervals and extends longitudinally of the machine substantially the entire length thereof. A bevel gear 24 is keyed or otherwise secured to the drive shaft opposite each of the winding heads (Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4). Each gear 24 engages a coacting bevel ear 25 mounted upon the end of a stub sha 26 carried by a bracket 27 fastened to the machine bed adjacent each of the rotary heads. Gears 24 are mounted upon alternate sides of gears 25 in order to have the successive heads rotate in opposite directions. Bevel gears 25 each have secured thereto so as to rotate therewith a s ur gear 28 which meshes with spur gear 29 igs: 3 and4) constituting one end of a train of removable gears carried by studs v30 and 31 adjustable by means of an larm 33, the train terminatingv in a spur gear 34 fast upon the outer end of a transverse shaft 35 rotatively supported in an extending housing 36 projecting from each of the rotary heads. By means of the adjustable studs various sizes of spur gears may be inserted in a train of gearing to produce any desired driving ratio between spur gear 28 and spur gear 34. The inner end of transverse shaft 35 carries a bevel gear 37 which meshes with another bevel gear 38 (Fig. 5) fast upon `a turret or head shaft 39 intermediate the ends thereoff The turret shaft being supported at its ends b taper bearings 40 mounted in thetwo en s of each of the rotar head supports. It is readily seen that w enever energy is supplied the shaft 21 is driven if clutch22 is engaged and shaft 21 will drive each of the stub shafts 26 and through the associated train of removable gears will drive the shaft 35 and through it will rotate the turret shaft 30.

One endA of the turret shaft 39 terminates in a flange 41 (Figs. 3 and5) to which is rigidly secured one of a pair of spool supporting disks 42 and 43. The second disk 43 of substantially the same diameter is secured to disk 42 in parallel spaced relationship thereto by'means of spacing ferrules 44 and bolts 45.' Between the two disks are mounted five spindles 46 upon which spools 47 of wire ma be rotatively mounted. Adjacent each spoo 47 and also extending Vbetween the two disks 42 and 43 there is a friction spring guide and drag 48 ,over which the wire passes as it leaves the spools to be wound around the core wire.

In order tov uide the strands of wire as they come o the friction guides preparatory to winding them around the core wire, there is bolted to disk 42 a ring 49 (iigs. 5 and 6) having studs 50 projecting ti erefrom which studs are bored to form guiding apertures leading toward the axis of the disk and through which the wires are passed. At the center of disk 42 there is also secured a cylindrical sleeve 51 bored longitudinally to the exact size of the core wire in -accordance with the yparticular head Vto which the sleeve is attached. Sleeve 51 is also bored radially at 'five points spaced axially along the sleeve to provide guiding apertures 52 through which strands of wire are'passed to guide them accurately to the core wire thus causing the five wires to lie closely adjacent each other in one single layer upon. the core wire as the head is rotated around the core wire.v 4Then as the five .heads are rotated-'about the corev wire the five strands of wire will be reeleddrives the worm wheel 58 keyed to grip the actuating shaft 59. It follows therefore that-shaft will be driven from shaft 21 and will in turn drive gripper shaft 59. A gripper or feeding unit one of which 1s positioned adjacent eachhead is shown in detail in Figs. v7, 8, 9 and 10. vThe units are carried by a housing mounted upon bracket 15 which housing is bored centrally to permit passa e of the flexibleshaft therethrough. The ousingis formed with three horizontally extendin arms 61 of unequal lengthl disposed radia ly about the housing which arms vform bearingsupports for the outer ends of three reciprocating shafts 62, the lower'arm also serving as a support for the entire unit by resting upon bracket 15. Each of shafts 62 .carries a ball clutch or gripper 63 securedadjacent its outer end and so disposed as to surround the flexible shaft bein made one behind the other. Each clutc is carried by an arm 63EL secured to one of the reciprocating shafts 62 adjacent the outer end thereof which arm constitutes a support for a sleeve 64 bored conically with the smaller `diameter toward the head. Three steel balls 65 are mounted within the bore of the sleeve and are held therein by a retaining element 66. The balls are constantl ur ed toward the smaller end of the s eeve y a compression s ring 67 held under compression between t e retainer 66 and a cap element 68 threaded into the arm 63. The opposite end of each reciprocating shaft carries an arm 69 in which a cam roller 70 is mounted ada' ted to contact with a cam disk 71 rotata ly mounted upon the housing 60 and to which is secured a driving gear 72. The cam and attached gear may be restricted from axial movement by a thrust bearing 73 and lock nut 74 secured to the extremity of the housing 60. The reciprocating shafts 62 and rollers 70 are constantly urged toward the cam 71 by coil spring 75 placed around the reciprocatingy shafts 62 and forced under compression in a recess formed in the housing between the housing and the arms 69.. Gear 72 meshes with an idle pinion 76 rotatably carried by a stub shaft 77 mounted in the rear end of bracket 15. Pinion 77 in turn is driven by a pinion 78 rigidly'mou-nted upon shaft 59 one ofv such v`pinions being secured Yto shaft 59 adjacent each bracket 15.

. It readily follows that as cam 71 is driven shafts 62 will be reciprocated in sequence and consequently each ball clutch will likewise be reciprocated. As each Vball clutch moves toward the head adjacent thereto the balls 65 willk recede into the larger endof the bore in sleeve 64 ybut as the chucks are moved away from the head adjacent vthereto the balls will moveinto the smaller end of the sleeve and grip the flexible shaft and pull the same toward the exit end of the machine. Having the three grippers disposed radially around the flexible shaft and having a long slope to the' cam surface will result in an even pulling effort since there will be an overlap in the grippers i. e. there vwill always bevtwo grippers pulling While the third is making a return movement to regrip the flexible shafting.

`In order to limber up the shafting as it cornes out of the machine anal flexing head 13 is secured to the bed 1 after the final winding head 12 as shown particularly in Figs. 1, 2, 11 and 12. The`driving mechanism of this last head is similar to that of the winding heads. The head has only one disk 42a thereon, however, to which 1s secured three arms 80 radially disposed about they center of the disk and extending rearwardly therefrom. Each arm carries three rollers 81 adjustably mounted in clevises 83 therein and positioned unequally distant from the center of the disk and the flexible shaft. The rollers may be adjusted toward and from the flexible shaft by means of a stud 84 whichis threaded into arms 80 and contacts with the clevises 83. The studs may be locked in any position by means of lock nuts 85. I

In order that the main driving clutch 22 may be controlled at any point alongthe length of the machine a lever 86 (Figs. 1

vand 2) secured at one end to the clutch mechanism is pivoted intermediate its ends at 87 to the frame and extends from the hackk to the front thereof terminating at the front` to the bed of the machine. ThenoperatorV therefore may start and sto the machine from any point along the slde thereof by merely moving rod 88 to the right or let.

' spindles may be 14. The five strands of wrapping wlre om the first head .are then brought down to their respective guides-48 and attached to the core wire 4. The machine is then run until the point of attachment has traversed the machine to the next head 12 where-the next ivewinding wires are attached and so on till the point of attachment hastraversed all` the winding heads Vwhen it is passed through the exing head.

With the machine running normally a core wire is fed continuously and under constant tension bythe ippers and simultaneously with this fee 'ng action the heads are rotated about the core wire to wind the respective layers of strands of wire thereupon, the alternate heads being rotated in the same direction. Thus the flexible shaft is made by continuously feeding a core wire and simultaneously .windingv thereon successive la ers and the completed shafting is thorou h y flexed and limbered so that it is ready or immediate use.

It is obvious that any, number of spool rovided u on each head and that any numlber of hea s may be used according to the size of flexible shaft desired and that man other changes may be made in details o construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1.' In a flexible shaft making machine, means for continuously feeding a core wire, said feedingmmeans comprising a plurality of ball chuc operable to grip the core wire when moved in one direction only and means for actuating said chucks in sequence to cause them to alternately ip the core wire and feed it continuously t rough the machine.

2. In a flexible shaft making machine, means for feeding a core wire, said feeding means comprising a plurality of ball chucks operable to grip the core wire when moved l in one direction only and means for actuatingisaid chucks in sequence to alternately feed the core wire through the machine with overlapping pulling e'orts.

3.- In a flexible shaft making machine,

grip ers for alternately reciprocating saidchucks to alternately ip saidcore wire.'

4. In a Xible shaft making.;` machine, means for continuously feedin a,-core.wire comprising a plurality of bal? chucks disposed 'longitudinally about said core wire and adapted to grip the core wirek when moved in one directlon and to sldefreely thereover when moved in theopposite d1` rection and a cam for alternately reciprocatin g said chucks to alternately said core w1re.

5.` In a iiexible shaft makingmachine, means for continuously feeding a @sore wire comprising a support, a plurality of arms disposed radially thereon and extending therefrom, a plurality of ballv clr'ucks carried thereby and disposed longitudinally along said core wire and adapted to grip the core wire when moved in onej;V direction and to slide freely thereover when moved in the opposite direction anda cam for alternately reciprocating said chucks to alternatel grip said core wire.

6. n a flexible shaft making.. machine, means for continuously feeding aacore wire comprising a housing, a lurality of arms radially disposed on sai housing, a ball chuck carried by each ofV said arms and means for independently reciprocating said chucks. j

7. In a exible shaft makingV machine, means for continuously feeding acore wire comprisin a housing, a (plurality of arms radially isposed on sai housing, a ball chuck lcarried by each of said arms, and a common actuatin means for independently reciprocatin sai chucks.

Y8. In a exible shaft making* machine, meansfor continuously feeding a corewire comprisin a housing, a lurality of arms radially 'sposed on sai chuck carried b each of said arms, a cam rotatably carrie by said housinglfoperative to reciprocate said chucks, and rotating said cam. s'

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my signature.

Louis H. ricain means for continuously feeding a core wire comprising a plurality of ball chucks adapted to lgrip the core; wire when moved in one direction and to slide freely thereover when moved in the opposite direction and a cam means for...

housing, a ball 

